Changing habits and saving lives.
The Honolulu Police Department spoke out in favor of a bill to make roads safer for emergency responders following another death of one of its own.
Officer Garret Davis was killed Saturday night on the H-1 Freeway in Aiea when he stopped to help two people in a stalled car.
Davis was in a marked car when investigators say he was rear-ended by a Chevy Silverado driven by 41-year-old Scott Ebert.
Davis' car caught on fire.
It’s the second time in four months that an HPD officer has been killed on our roadways.
HPD is supporting the so-called "Move Over" law which would require that drivers keep one lane between them and emergency responders or that they slow down to 20 miles per hour in a residential area.
“One would ask why do we need such a law it would seem that common sense would dictate to motorists that they should give room pull over vacate give a buffer zone for that first responder but we've seen time and time again where this has not occurred,” said Major Kurt Kendro of the Honolulu Police Department.
“A traffic stop or if you're trying to help somebody is a dynamic situation I mean you have 3,500 pound cars whizzing past you at 50 and 60 miles per hour,” said Maj. Kendro.
Hawaii is the only state in the country that has not adopted the "move over" law.
Meantime, the driver of the truck Scott Ebert was arrested for negligent homicide and released pending investigation.
State lawmakers are optimistic that the "move over" bill will pass into law during this session.
But some say legislators need to take it even a step further.
Hawaii is the only state in the nation that doesn't have a law requiring drivers to give police and other emergency responders an extra lane of space when they're stopped on the side of the road. Lawmakers are looking to change that with House Bill 2030, also known as the "Move Over" bill.
"I think it will pass of course it will pass, I'm very confident it will pass the House,” said Rep. Joe Souki of the transportation committee.
On the Senate side, Senator Will Espero says he introduced a similar bill last year, but the measure was never heard. He says he's confident that the bill will pass this year in light of two police officers who died in the past four months when their cars were hit on the freeway. House Transportation Committee Chairman Joe Souki says that's still not enough.
"This law alone is not gonna resolve the problem, you need a combination of this law and means to stop the speeding,” said Souki.
Souki says lawmakers need to reconsider putting speeding cameras on the roadways to prevent more accidents.
He emphasizes that it won't be done by Van Cams which drew so many complaints several years ago, they were eventually scrapped.
Speeding cameras can be placed on freeways and other roads where necessary.
Cameras can also be placed on traffic lights to prevent drivers from running through a red light. Souki says this combination along with passing the move over bill will make the roads safer.
